A Forest, or a Tree by Tegan Moore - A Short Story Review

Four city women go on an overnight hiking trip into the woods.  Most are ill-equipped for the task.

Once the discomforts of camping set in, real stresses between the hikers manifest.  Spooky stories around the campfire set things in motion. 

I thought the story was very well written and the characters believable and understandable.  The deep-dark woods, bad weather and a feeling of danger made for a creepy experience. 

But, truth be told, I wasn’t happy with the ending. It felt forced and did not fit with how the story was told.  I did like the open ending.  Perhaps there is a sequel in the works?  I’d gladly go back to this world

Tegan Moore’s website - https://alarmhat.com/

Tegan Moore

The New Prometheus by Michael Swanwick - A Short Story Review

Another instalment in Swanwick’s Mongolian Wizard series.

This time, we find Ritter and his wolf Freki in the Arctic chasing a new villain.

But this is no ordinary brute; he is a sympathetic, misunderstood person trying to find his place in the world.

Ritter’s assignment is clear but what will he do when he confronts his quarry?

Yup, I like this series quite a lot.

Michael Swanwick Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swanwick

The whole series can be found here - https://www.tor.com/series/mongolian-wizard-stories-michael-swanwick/

Michael Swanwick

Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone - A Short Story Review

What is the nature of reality?  Who is in control of that reality?  What happens when the truth is revealed?

This story was a fantastic mind-bender.  On board a probe three individuals are running experiments but there are some dark secrets that might bring on violent responses.

The author references the ship Nostromo, from the movie Alien to instantly create the underlying menace that hangs over everything.

A Skinner Box is explained in the story and it’s then I pulled back my point of view and felt real dread for Evie, the protagonist in this story.

It is an excellent story that left me chilled for the rest of the day.

Carole Johnstone’s blog - http://carolejohnstone.blogspot.com/

Carole Johnstone

Any Way the Wind Blows by Seanan McGuire - A Short Story Review

I rather enjoy stories that break the fourth wall or are meta in nature.

This one is an homage to Tor’s office in the iconic Flatiron building in New York City.  The artwork for the story was excellent, with Stubby, the official logo of tor.com, hovering beside the building.

It reminded me of one of my favourite episodes of Deep Space 9, Far Beyond the Stars (S6-E13), where Sisko has visions of being a pulp science fiction author.

This story has the crew of Stubby, cartographers of the multiverse, and their experience when they arrive in our reality.


It was clever and fun - a delight to read.

Seanan McGire’s website - http://www.seananmcguire.com/

Seanan McGuire

Murder in the Spook House by Michael Swanwick - A Short Story Review

God bless Tor.com and their quarterly “best-of” ebook giveaway.

In this summer edition the opening story by Swanwick was a delight. Set in England around World War I in a reality that knows wizards, werewolves, time travel and military intelligence; on a dark and stormy night there is a murder. 

Acting Director of British Intelligence Ritter is summoned in the middle of the night to investigate the murder of Sir Toby.

This is one of the latest instalments of his Mongolian Wizard series. If you like this one there are many more to be had. 

I rather liked this one even though I am not a big fan of magical stories because it barely relied on mystical tropes. 

A good opening story to this collection. 

The Summer 2019 Fiction Collection can be downloaded HERE.

Michael Swanwick